PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy has filed for a divorce from wife Erica Stoll, saying their marrage is ‘irretrievably broken’. The 35-year-old is set to feature at the PGA Championship this week and he is one of the favourites to secure victory in the second major of the year.
But away from the course, McIlroy filed court documents – which have been seen by Express Sport – for the split on Monday, just three days before the PGA Championship gets underway. They have been married for seven years.
The documents were filed in Florida where Rory, Erica and their three-year-old daughter live. They state that the marriage is unfortunately beyond repair and call for a parenting plan to be put into place.
The pair started dating in 2014, two years after they first met. McIlroy first met Stoll at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club in Illinois, where she was working at the time. The Northern Irishman thanked her for arranging his police escort to the course after almost missing his tee time.
McIlroy was engaged to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki at the time but they split in 2014. The golf star then later dated Stoll and proposed to her the following year.
McIlroy and Stoll have one child together, Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, who was born in 2020. The family were all spotted together at the 2023 Masters, though their life has largely been kept out of the public eye.
The reason for McIlroy and Stoll’s divorce remains unclear, and the golf star’s communications team have called for the pair to be afforded privacy at this time.
McIlroy’s representatives said: “Rory McIlroy’s communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed. They stressed Rory’s desire to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible. He will not be making any further comment.”
McIlroy heads to the PGA Championship at Valhalla as one of the strong favourites. Speaking ahead of the competition, the world No. 2 revealed that he believes that he is ‘way better’ now than he was when landing his fourth major 10 years ago.
He explained: “I’ve been sort of banging this drum for the last few years, but I’m a way better player now than I was back then.
“I haven’t had the major record to back that up, but I’ve had the wins (23 across the PGA Tour and DP World Tour since 2014), I’ve done everything else there is to do in the game since 2014.
“The only thing I need to do is get another major. You know, a win like this going into the PGA Championship next week is a good way to prep for that.”